(SportsNetwork.com) - The Columbus Blue Jackets are by no means out of
contention for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but that moment could
come sooner rather than later if they can't find a way to get their power play
on track.

The Blue Jackets try to avoid a third straight loss on Tuesday night as they
host the Detroit Red Wings in a matchup of wild card hopefuls.

Columbus has lost two in a row for the first time this month and its three
defeats in four games has the club just on the outside of the playoff picture
with 78 points. That is one point behind the ninth-place Washington Capitals
in the Eastern Conference standings and two behind Detroit and the Toronto
Maple Leafs, who are tied for the two wild card positions.

The Blue Jackets have not scored a power-play goal in their past 10 games,
going 0-for-35 in that span. They failed on all six chances with the man
advantage in Sunday's 2-0 loss to the New York Islanders.

Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 30-of-32 shots for the Blue Jackets.

"It's hard this time of year to get that intensity level up every single
night," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "We didn't have it at a high
enough level tonight, and we ended up paying for it.

"It's really disappointing. We had an opportunity to help ourselves, but we
didn't take that opportunity."

Detroit has taken advantage of its opportunities with a point in four straight
games. The Red Wings picked up a third straight victory when they won in
Minnesota on Saturday, then notched another point in a 4-3 setback to the Wild
to wrap a home-and-home set the following day.

Gustav Nyquist continued his scoring barrage with a pair of goals, upping his
team-leading total to 23. He has seven goals in his last five contests and 18
over the last 23 games.

Tomas Tatar recorded a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, while Jimmy
Howard came up with 21 saves.

"It's always gonna be disappointing when you lose a game now at this time of
year," Nyquist said. "We're in real need of points with all of the teams
battling for the playoffs."

The Blue Jackets and Red Wings have split the first two of three meetings this
season, with each club picking up a victory at home. Columbus' 4-1 triumph on
March 11 was its third in a row at home over Detroit and improved it to 6-1-1
in the last eight matchups of this series.

Boone Jenner and Brandon Dubinsky scored 40 seconds apart midway through the
third period of the victory in Ohio, while Bobrovsky made 39 saves. Howard did
not play due to the flu.

Bobrovsky is 4-2-1 with a 1.97 goals against average in his career versus the
Red Wings, while Howard is 10-3-2 with a 2.00 GAA lifetime when facing the
Blue Jackets.

Detroit is likely to have forward Todd Bertuzzi back in the lineup tonight
after he sat out Sunday's game with flu-like symptoms.

03/25 10:51:41 ET

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